The new Pattullo Bridge will have a name in the Indigenous halkomelem (hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓) language when it opens in coming weeks, with the bridge deck connected and final paving underway.
The Surrey-New Westminster span is now known as Stal̕əw̓asəm, in recognition of “First Nations’ deep historical and current connections to the area,” according to B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
The new name — pronounced STALL-oh-ah-sum — translates to “place to view the river,” or riverview.
Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s Minister of Transportation and Transit, gave an update on the bridge-replacement project Monday morning (Dec. 8) in Surrey, as construction continued. At a news conference he was joined by reps from Musqueam Indian Band and Kwantlen First Nation.
The project site overlaps with the boundaries of two former reserves once located in the village of qiqéyt [kee-KATE], Musqueam Indian Reserve #1 and Kwantlen Indian Reserve #8, Farnworth notes in a memo leaked to news media last summer.
The original Pattullo Bridge was named after Thomas Dufferin “Duff” Pattullo, B.C. Premier from 1933 to 1941.
The four-lane Pattullo Bridge replacement is expected to be open by Christmas, with traffic switched to the new bridge in phases. Once the new bridge is open, the existing bridge will be removed. Detailed plans are posted on pattullobridgereplacement.ca/construction/bridge-opening.
Now 88 years old, the original bridge turned 75 in 2012.
“A gleaming, brand-spanking new Pattullo Bridge officially opened Nov. 15, 1937 with a great deal of fanfare about how modern it was,” says a 2012 report on surreynowleader.com.
It took two years and two months to build at a cost of $4 million — big bucks in the 1930s. To pay for it, users were charged a toll that wasn’t removed until 1952.
“The connection across the Fraser River between Surrey and New Westminster was well used long before the first rivet was drilled on the Pattullo. The first crossings were done by the K de K and Surrey ferries. In 1904, a wooden bridge was completed that carried trains on one level and carts, pedestrians, produce, horses, cattle, and assorted farm animals on another.”